Aussie to head Chinese reserve team

Former Australian national coach Otto Sonnleitner has taken charge of China's reserve swim team.

The 73-year-old Australian is no stranger to Chinese swimming as he joined the national squad as a consultant before last year's Beijing Games. Sonnleitner will have full responsibility for the team, which differs from the usual national set-up in which teams, at each level, have several coaches and they are responsible for a certain group of swimmers.

Some Chinese swimmers, such as newly-crowned men's 800m freestyle world champion Zhang Lin, used to train with Dennis Cotterell, coach of swimming star Grant Hackett, in Australia, but Sonnleitner is the first foreigner to be appointed head coach of the Chinese national swimming team.